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I know, I know. I have been absent from blogging for what seems like forever. My job required me to be at a location that has not allowed me access to my blog…or much of anything else on the internet. I could have blogged in the evening, but I just find it much easier to do on the old lunch break! However, I recently noticed that they have relaxed the restrictions and I can start blogging again!

First things First…a race report.

Picture from my first Half-Ironman….I don’t have any from this one handy!

This will be shorter than most since it was so long ago…and I can’t quite remember all the “heat of the moment” stuff.

Atomic Man 70.3 10/30/12

Overall Time – 5:07:12

Overall Place – 19/132

Pre-Race:

I had quite the cheering section for this one. Ashley, Mom and Jenn were all in attendance. Dad was out of town…I believe on one of his fishing trips. I had the normal peanut butter bagel with coffee and headed to the race site. Ashley took a little snooze in the car while I set up transition. I got everything set up, slid on the wet suit, and headed down to the water.

The Swim: 34:57 23/132

The water was insanely cold for this one. We swam in Melton Hill Lake, which is pretty chilly year around. I believe the temp was 65 degrees on race morning. The swim was a two loop course that consisted of running along the beach between laps. I stuck to my usual strategy of taking it pretty easy during the swim. I have found it is much better to be fresh out of the water than gassed and a minute or two faster.

Transition 1: 2:03

This includes a pretty good run to the transition area…I would say 100 yards. I got the wetsuit stripped off pretty quick and slid on the socks and shoes. I am going to be going sockless this year and have my shoes clipped in…should save me a good 20 seconds in transitions.

The Bike: 2:44:30 19/132

I really liked this bike course. It starts off with about seven miles of terrible hills…which turned out to be even more terrible than expected. They took a bit out of my legs, but after the hills are over you have about 42 miles of flat ground to hammer on! I had my overall pace right at 21 m.p.h which is where I wanted…but I didn’t take into account that I had to go back through the seven miles of hills to get back to transition. My overall pace dropped to 20.5 before all was said and done. I took in 40 ounces of Perpetuem and 20 ounces of water. Probably could have used one more bottle of water, but my stomach was super full.

Transition 2: 0:56

Really good transition. One of the faster ones for all racers on the day. Quickly slipped the shoes on and hit the road.

The Run: 1:44:44 27/132

The run course was on some rolling hills on the East Tennessee backroads. It was a two loop course and the 3.3ish miles out were mostly uphill, so it was a relief to run the 3.3 back to the start area. All the water/Gatorade/Gu stations had plenty of volunteers and were located every mile on the course. I started out running about 7:50 miles and that quickly turned into 8:15s. My legs were a little spent from the hills at the end of the bike course and the fact that the run started out uphill had me hurting. I could feel cramps starting to come on so I started grabbing Gu and Gatorade at every station. I already had about 10 ounces of gatorade in my water bottle I run with. At the turnaround of the first lap I started to feel a lot better. I kicked the pace up and manged to run about 7:45s for the returning three miles. The second lap was about the same as the first…suffer through the hills on the way out and pick it up on the way in. I finished right on my goal pace of 8:00 miles. I was actually prepared to run much slower than this so I was thrilled when I was able to hold pace without walking at all. My overall time goal for this race was to beat my first Half-Iron time of 5:37…so when I got about halfway through the run and realized I was going to crush that time I was PUMPED! I ended up knocking 30 minutes off 5:37 and couldn’t be happier with the time.

Post-Race:

I hung out for awards and got 3rd in my age group. I got a pretty cool transition mat. It will come in handy because most of the local races I do are in parking lots. I alway put towels down, but the mat will be much better. The ladies and I headed to Oliver Garden after a much needed shower. I had a great time and look forward to doing this race again in 2013!

I will try and get some pictures up at some point…I know the wifey got some good ones.

Hey folks. Sorry for the blogging absence. I mentioned in a previous post about starting a new work schedule recently. Well, it has been quite the adjustment to say the least. I have gone to working four 10 hour days a week…with a 45 minute commute to and from work (it’s actually about 30 on the way home without traffic). Either way, I have been struggling to find a balance between work, working out, spending time with my wife, and fulfilling my necessary duties around the house. I think the biggest change has been my inability to swing by the gym at lunch and swim for 30-45 minutes. It has been near impossible for me to get to the pool more than 2-3 times a week.

The positive part about this schedule? My Friday! I have been able to get everything done around the house that I need to, schedule a long swim in the morning, and a long bike or run in the afternoons…then still spend the evening hanging with the wife! I just need to be off work every day of the week…wouldn’t that be nice. 🙂

A little update on training. My final race of the season is nine days away! I have started to taper this week, and holy smokes did I need the break. Here are my distances for the past 2 weeks.

Swim: 19,000 Meters (5.5 Hours) Since I haven’t been able to get to the pool as much as I want, I have been putting in a little more distance in each session. I usually just swim 1500-2500 meters…but I have thrown some 3000-3500 meter sessions in there the last couple of weeks.

Bike: 315 Miles (16 Hours) Put in some serious miles on the bike. I have been riding 5 days a week with a couple of speed days and one long ride each week. I had two 60 mile rides…and I really wanted one of those to be a 70 miler…but just couldn’t fit it in this past weekend. The Vols were playing!

Run: 61 Miles (8 hours) I don’t want to jinx myself, but my run has really been feeling great lately. I will set out on an “easy” recovery run and it’s like I can’t slow myself down. I will be keeping my heart rate under 150 and be going at what was my race pace not long ago. I think I have really got a solid base built and the speed work is paying off…now I just have to make it work on race day!

Atomic Man is September 30th. My first half-iron I did in May was a learning experience for sure. I burnt my legs out on the last few miles of the bike fighting a head wind and my nutrition was pathetic. I just can’t do this distance on Gatorade and gu.

I have a much better nutrition plan this time around. I will be taking in about 500 more calories pre-run with the same amount of fluid (depending on the heat). This course is in East Tennessee, so it will have a lot more hills than Panama City. It should also be a lot cooler. I have high hopes of breaking my original half-ironman goal of 5:30. If all goes to plan I will be looking at more like 5:10-5:15. Fingers crossed!

Where to begin?!? This weekend was my only Olympic distance race on the schedule this season and my “A” race. I planned all my training around this one and had really high hopes for a good finish. Things didn’t go exactly as I had planned for the day. In the end I am happy that I came out of the race uninjured and ready for a strong finish at Atomic Man 70.3 on September 30th (My new “A” race…LoL). I’ll just jump right in and let you know how it went!

Pre-Race: I started the day as always…a peanut butter bagel with milk and a cup of coffee on the way to the race. I arrived about 10 minutes prior to transition opening, which worked out great because I got a great rack spot and it got packed quick! We had 157 racers show up for this one which is a great turnout. Dad and I got all body marked and set up and then hung around until it was time to swim. We did chase down one of the event staff to discuss the changes to the bike and run course. There was a brutal hill at about mile 20 of the bike last year that was on a pretty busy road. They decided to take us on a little side road that avoided this hill which was fine by me! We asked the guy about the changes and he said he hadn’t been on the bike course and wasn’t sure…but there would be volunteers at all major turns to let us know where to go. What could go wrong, right?

The Swim: 1500 Meters – 18:22 19/157

I felt GREAT on the swim. For my open water swims in the past I have taken it extremely easy…to the point where I felt like I was going a little too conservative. Not this race. I came out pretty hard and pushed my swim abilities. My wave was males 40 and under and was the first to go. I believe I was 6th or 7th out of the water. I couldn’t be happier with my swim result based on my current abilities. I want to get a little faster for next season, but I felt fresh and ready to bike coming out of the water.

Transition 1: 1:14

This transition is much improved from the start of the season. I could still probably knock 10-15 seconds off with a water-proof Garmin and having my shoes clipped into my bike. I just can’t decide if trying to get my feet into my shoes while riding would slow me down enough to make that step worth it.

The Bike: 29 Miles – 1:20:29 21.5 MPH 92/157

Wait a minute…the bike course was only supposed to be 24.8 miles, right? Indeed it was. The course ended up being 23.75 miles for almost everyone else. As I said before, I was about 6th or 7th out of the water and when I got on the bike I settled into a lead pack of six (not drafting pack, just within sight of each other). Last year they set up the turnaround at a church that was about one mile short of the church they were SUPPOSED to set up at. When I get to the first church there was a table of water bottles in the parking lot (10 yards off the road) and two female volunteers standing behind the table with their arms crossed. I checked my Garmin and we were at 11.5 miles. There were no turnaround signs and we were short of the 12.4 miles we should have been at to turnaround. The volunteers weren’t signaling anything so the six of us in the lead kept chugging on thinking the turnaround would be at the next church up the road. When we got to the next church there was nothing there either…starting to get a little worried. At this point, the guy that had put about a quarter mile lead on the rest of us came flying by in the other direction…he must have hit the turnaround up ahead! The other five racers in the lead put our heads down and hammered on. At mile 14.25 we stopped…realizing we had missed the turnaround. A police officer caught up to us in his cruiser and told us our mistake. We were 2.75 miles past the turnaround, meaning we were going to race an extra 5.5 miles today. Not much to do but head back towards transition as fast as possible! When I came into transition I could see the relief on Ashley and Mom’s face. Ashley thought I had a flat…Mom thought I had been run over and left for dead. Knowing that my hopes of a top five finish were out the windows weighed on me mentally during the last half of the bike and during the run. There was nothing I could do about it now though.

Transition 2: 0:32

Can’t do much better here. In and out!

The Run: 5.8 Miles – 41:50 7:12 min/miles 12/157

I started the run at about a 6:30 min/mile. I really wanted to break 40:00 for the run and a guy started beside me that said he had the same goal. We paced each other for the first mile, but it was quickly clear that I just don’t have 6:30s in me for six miles right now. I need a lot more speed work on the run. I can push it to low 6:00s for these sprint races, but anything over three miles and I’m hurting. This is just something I’m going to have to work on in the off-season. I let my running buddy leave me at about two miles and slowed to a 7:00 pace. I held this for miles 3-5…and then really took it easy on the last 0.8 miles. The last mile is completely uphill and my lungs were screaming at me to slow down. Maybe if I had 4th or 5th place in sight I would have pushed myself to the brink…but not after that bike fiasco. I cruised in with a 27/157 finish.

I talked with the group of guys that got hosed on the bike and, like me, they were not too happy. We all agreed that there was no reason to think that water station was the turnaround…but we also agreed there is no use crying about it. It’s not like we are racing for the big bucks here. There is always next year!

Now I’m going to focus on my last race of the season, Atomic Man 70.3. I don’t think my training is too far off from where it needs to be to call this my “A” race…since this one didn’t go as planned. I have put in a lot of miles this summer and if I push myself over the next five weeks, I think I can make some big improvements over my first half-ironman.

It’s time for my “A” race of the season! This is the race that I have planned all my training around. Tomorrow is Storm the Fort in my hometown of Kingston, TN. It’s an Olympic distance triathlon, which I think is going to be my best distance for the speed I currently have and the amount of training I have done this year. What I mean by that is:

-There are guys that are faster than me over these sprint distance races I have been doing. No arguing that.

-I just doing have the endurance to keep up with some of these guys on half-iron distance races. No arguing that.

-BUT…I think I have enough of an endurance base and enough speed to outlast some of the speedy guys on an Olympic and keep pace with some of the endurance guys.

We shall see! To the training…

Swim: 8000 Meters (2.25 Hours) Pretty good week of swimming…and I’m glad I got it in last week because this week has been horrible for swimming. I have swam twice….for a grand total of 3500 Meters.

Bike: 95 Miles (5.25 Hours) Right where I needed to be while starting the taper. I probably could have got another shorter ride in during the middle of the week, but I decided to take it a little easier since I was going to need to be completely rested for my race this weekend.

Run: 25 Miles (3.25 Hours) My run felt phenomenal this week. I was taking it as easy as I could to be rested for this week…but my legs just wanted to go go go! The run is by far my favorite sport to train and when it feels like this week did I just can’t stay off the road.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous for this race tomorrow. I know I won’t be competing for the overall win, because two of the guys who were in the top 3 last year have signed up and they run sub 6:00 miles for the 10K. I’m just not there on my speed. However, judging by last years times and what I expect out of myself…I have high expectations of keeping those guys in sight on the bike and keeping the hammer down on the run for as long as my body will let me. I WILL run out of gas on this race…I’m planning on it. Usually I want to pace myself to not run out of steam and finish strong…not on this race. I want to fall across the finish line and know that I left it all on the course. I’ll let you know how it goes!

It’s time for what is becoming my weekly Friday blog post. It seems this is the only time I’m able to sit down and blog! First things first…Ashley got a bike! I know it is rough to be the spouse of a triathlete. Especially a spouse who works full time…of a triathlete who works full time on top of training. The short amount of time that we are home together I am always going out the door for a run or hopping on the trainer for a bike ride. Well, Ashley has been wanting to get a bike to stay in shape and be able to spend a little more time with me by training with me! We have been scouring the internet for a good deal and finally found a great one. We picked her up a 2011 Argon-18 E80. They are a Canadian bike brand that has really stepped up into the big leagues the last couple of years with their tri bikes. Here is a terrible picture from my phone…

We took it out for the first test ride last night and she’s a natural! We went about five miles and by the end of it she was already down on her aero bars hammering it home. I’m gonna have to get one of these signs that says “Proud Tri Husband” before you know it.

She isn’t actually looking to get into triathlons right now, just have a good workout….but I am going to see if I can’t get her swimming and running, too!

To the training!

I had a really good week in training. I hit all my goals in all three disciplines and was able to really push the pace in my speed work on the run.

Swim: 8500 Meters (2.5 Hours) Finally made it to the pool four times this week. My sister came in from Nashville and swam with me and Dad on Friday…which was awesome! She is a natural swimmer and was able to do ten times the distance I could when I first started…at about twice the pace!

She is a certified goober…but I love her!

Bike: 145 Miles (7.5 Hours) I got in some “ok” speed work on the bike, but I really need to replace the resistance wheel on my trainer. Whenever I try to put in some serious repeats it’s like the thing overheats and the resistance is completely unrealistic to what is should be. I guess the other option is to get my lazy self out on the road for repeats! 🙂

Run: 29 Miles (4 Hours) Really happy with my speed work in training. I have been doing my 400 Meter or 800 Meter repeats at about a 6:00 pace. Well, I decided to drop it down to 5:45 this week and it really went well. I did six 800 Meter repeats at 5:45 with a 400 Meter cool-down at an 8:00 pace in between. My legs were feeling the pain afterwards, but it was a great workout.

We are a week away from Storm the Fort Olympic Distance! I’m really excited about this race. Before this race last year I was confident in my run and feeling so-so about my bike and swim. I wanted to be in the top-50 after the swim and bike, then run my way into the top 20 or so. Well, I ended up in the top 25 after the swim and bike, and fell apart on the run for a 49th overall finish. I had an insane side-stitch for 4 miles of the run which reduced me to walking quite a bit. So much for plans!

This year I am confident I can redeem myself with a top-10 finish…if that stitch will stay away.

It’s time for a monthly recap! It’s pretty crazy to look back over a month and see all the time and distance that I’ve logged. I’ll be looking to add a little bit to each of these numbers in August, but it will be difficult with the Olympic race taper and recovery. I’m thinking September is going to be my biggest month on training.

Swim: 30,850 Meters (9 Hours) This number has definitely got to get better if I am going to stay with the lead pack in the swim. For these shorter sprints, I am not losing much time…but in the Olympic (0.93 Miles) and Half-Iron (1.2 Miles) I am going to struggle to catch up with guys on the bike. I think it may be too little too late this season, but I need to really focus on my swim this offseason. The best way to do that is probably going to be a masters group.

Bike: 560 Miles (28 Hours) July is the first month that I really stepped up my biking and added in some hard intervals and some serious long rides on the weekend. I’ll be looking to put this number over 600 Miles in August.

Run: 134.5 Miles (18.5 Hours) I think this was about perfect for my goals in July. I wanted to add some speed work into my routine and continue to get a long run in on the weekend. For August I’m going to be upping my intermediate distance runs and this number should be closer to the 150 Mile mark.

Here’s a quick look at last week’s training…

Swim: 3700 Meters (1.5 Hours) Last week was a rough one for swimming. I really had no time or motivation to make time to get to the pool. I am making up for it this week though!

Bike: 130 Miles (6.5 Hours) Good week on the bike. I was able to get a 50 mile in ride in on Sunday after my race Saturday.

Run: 17 Miles (2.5 Hours) I bumped my long run to Monday, so my actual training week is more like 25 miles if you count that one.

One more thing…the Race Day Events homepage should be updating shortly with the standings of the Fleet Feet Grand Prix Standings. Head over and check them out when you get a chance at http://racedayevents.net/events

Dad and I should be moving up the list a bit with our age group wins at Springbrook.

What a day! I have to be honest…I wasn’t even planning on doing this race at the beginning of the season. I had never done it before or really heard anything about it. Then Fleet Feet announced their Grand Prix series and this was the third of four races. I put it on the schedule but still didn’t look into it very much. Well, I am SO glad that I did! Around 285 people showed up for the race and it was one of the most organized and well ran races I have ever been in. Well, to the report!

Overall: 47:04. 6th of 285. 1st of 11 in my age group.

Pre-race: I woke up a little later than usual. I had my peanut butter bagel and cup of coffee, loaded the car, and it was off to the race. I usually get to transition a little after 6:00 and grab the end spot on a rack. I got there around 6:20 this time and luckily my dad gave me the end spot on the rack. We won’t make this mistake again…it’s better to get there early and have your end spot than to deal with cramming bikes in the rack 10 minutes before the race starts. Anyway…we went over to the pool and got a few hundred meters in to warm up. Race time!

This dude is ready to swim.

The Swim: 200 yards – 2:57 12/285

Can you find Waldo (Me)?

Here is a hint.

That was Ashley’s idea…she is so funny!

This was a time trial start and eight lengths of a 25 yard pool. As we were standing in line waiting to start, someone pointed out that the girl that was about to start the swim first was an Olympic swimmer from the Athens games!! I was pretty star struck.

She actually just got the second best swim split…but the dude who had first is in my age group and is ALWAYS up front on the swim. I’m postive she could have smoked us all if she wanted to.

My swim went well. I had to pass a guy that seeded himself a little too high…I can’t blame him though. I have done the same thing. There was a LONG run to transition on this one.

Transition 1: 1:28

This time includes the 200 yard run to transition, so I am pretty happy with it. A lot quicker than usual. I can still make up about 10-20 seconds with a Garmin I don’t have to put on after the swim and shoes already clipped in.

The Bike: 8.8 Miles – 24:10 5/285

I hammered the bike as hard as I could. I held just under 22 mph average. I was trying to hang with a couple of guys that I know are quicker on the bike with me, but as usual, they were able to get about a minute on me. I have been racing the guys that got 1st and 2nd in races all season and was able to talk to them after the race. They really boosted my confidence about getting a little gear to make it easier on me. I didn’t have my aero helmet for this race and still need to get some race wheels. Hopefully with these additions I will be able to keep up with the big boys! In the end…I can’t really complain about the 5th best bike split. Even though I couldn’t keep up with the top guys, I am still getting faster on these hilly courses!

Transition 2: 0:37

Really happy with this time. Right up there with the winners on time.

The Run: 2.8 Miles – 17:54 9/285

I’m really happy with this time! I got SUPER winded a little under a mile into the race because I came out running sub 6:00 miles and there were a couple of good hills at the beginning. It was just a bit too fast for the hills. It seemed like forever until I was able to catch my breath settle back into a nice pace. I eventually did and it felt good to run around 6:15’s and not feel like I was dying! The speed work I have been doing is really paying off. I pushed the pace hard to come in 6th overall. I think I was third to cross the line, but I started pretty high in the swim. A couple of guys that started further back on the swim had lower overall times than me.

I ended up getting 1st in my age group which I am super pumped about! It turns out the old man got first in his age group, too! He is still picking up speed and I am super proud of him. Head over to his blog and read his race report!

It’s race week! I’m doing my last sprint of this season this weekend. I’m excited to see if all this speed work I have been doing let’s me push the pace the way I want to! I have a plan to seed myself high with a couple of the best bikers that I know are signed up already. The plan is to try and keep them in sight and make the pass on the run. Where I have lost ground on the bike this season has been on the hills…and this course is supposed to be 10 flat miles! So I hope I can keep pace. I’ll let you know how it goes!

On to training…

Swim: 6500 Meters (2 Hours) Just like last week…I was only able to get to the pool three times. I was rushing my swim this week, too. I didn’t feel like I got near enough distance in and I’m not on pace to do much better in the current week. This work schedule is killing me!

Bike: 85 Miles (4 Hours) I had grand plans of putting in 150ish miles this week…but no such luck. I ended up running a 12 miler on Saturday morning and then spending the rest of the day out on the lake….standing. My legs were shot on Sunday so I decided to give them a break. I think a ride would have done much more harm than good.

Run: 28 Miles (4 Hours) Good week of running this week. I got in the miles I wanted and felt strong during my speed work.

I also need to give a big I LOVE YOU to my beautiful wife. We celebrated our three year anniversary yesterday. I love her more than life itself! I find myself thinking about how lucky I am every single day. She is supportive of my hobbies and is actually looking to get herself a bike! Head over to her blog to read our tips for a healthy marriage!

It’s been a while since my last post! My apologies…I just started a new project at work and my schedule has been a little crazy. I am struggling just to get my workouts in and spend time with my lady…so blogging took a back seat for a bit. I have made a couple of purchases that are sure to be the magic bullet for my upcoming sprint (sarcasm). It was time for new running shoes, as I was over 500 miles on my current pair! I would never recommend doing this. I usually don’t go over 400, but for some reason this pair really felt good until this last couple of runs. I run in Saucony Guide 4’s, and just decided to move up to the Guide 5’s. There is really no difference, other than they are a bit lighter and come in this color scheme!

They just look faster than the old red, black and grey!

I also decided it was time for some cheap speed on the bike and bought an aero helmet. I decided on a Giro Advantage 2 because I found an unused one on craigslist for about 1/3 of the retail price…SCORE! I’m a sucker for a deal, so I had my sister go pick it up for me since the post was from Nashville. She sent me this picture to confirm the purchase.

Love that goober.

There are numerous studies that have been done to see exactly how much time an aero helmet will save you…some are as high as two minutes for a 40K and some are as low as 15 seconds for a 40K. Most are well over a minutes though! One thing is certain…it is some serious bang for your buck when it comes to time savings on the bike course.

On to the training week!

I am almost a week behind…so these workouts seem like distant memories. It was a solid week of training with some nice work on the bike.

Swim: 6500 meters (2 hours) I was only able to get to the pool three times with my new work schedule…and I don’t think that is going to be changing any time soon. It looks like my sets are going to be getting longer if I want to get my distance in.

Bike: 140 miles (7.5 hours) I had a really good week on the bike. I got in two longer sets that included some tough intervals. I did five minute repeats for 50 minutes with 2 minute cool-down spins in between for one workout. Another I did a ladder 1-2-3-3-2-1 all out effort with one minute cool-down spins in between…twice. I topped the week off with a 60 mile ride on Sunday.

Run: 25 miles (3.5 hours) I have been getting my speed work in on the treadmill after my swim sessions at the gym. I know, I know…the “dreadmill” isn’t as effective or fun as running on the road. It has been a good break though and 5:30 pace ¼ mile repeats are easier to keep up with when the treadmill sets the pace for you.

The race director for the sprint I did on Saturday was nice enough to give me a credit for a free race since I was sent off course and subsequently disqualified. So why not make it a doozie?!? I signed up for my second half-ironman of the season, The Atomic Man, which is taking place on September 30th. It looks like a pretty brutal bike course. I have to drive most of the bike course on my way to work and there is one road in particular that is VERY hilly and curvy. Time to crush the hill repeats! I’ll see if I can talk dad into this race as well…although he said he would never do another 70.3 after the Gulf Coast Triathlon. He does wear that t-shirt with pride though….so maybe he will do it for another swag bag!

I really cut back on my training last week to make sure I was fully recovered for the sprint this past weekend. I think it was a well needed break from the heavy training I had been putting in during the build phase. My legs feel great and I have tons of energy…so the rest paid off.

Swim: 4650 Meters (1.5 Hours) Much needed swimming break. I have really been getting burnt out in the pool lately and the break seems to have given me the energy I needed to get back in the groove. I have already put in two long sets this week.

Bike: 60 Miles (3 Hours) I actually did 4 workouts, I just made them short and sweet. I got one day of hard intervals in and everything else was basically spinning to keep the legs fresh.

Run: 23 Miles (3 Hours) I didn’t cut back on my run mileage as much as I did on my swim and bike….but that is partly because I did an eight mile “burn some steam off” run on Sunday after my DQ Saturday. Felt goooooood.

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26 year old amateur triathlete living and working in East Tennessee. Married to a beautiful wife, father of two fur babies, and follower of Jesus Christ. Follow my blog for training updates, health tips, and race reports.